1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite substance containing metal particles used to constitute a conductive paste, a conductive paste and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Discussion of Background
As the miniaturization of electronic devices has been pursued with more vigor in recent years, it has become crucial to provide more compact electronic components for use in such electronic devices. In particular, a great deal of effort has been made to achieve further miniaturization as well as an improvement in the characteristics, for electronic components such as inductors, capacitors and filters constituted of ceramic, by adopting a multilayer lamination structure.
These laminated components are manufactured by mixing ceramic powder with an organic vehicle, printing a conductive paste to constitute electrode on a green sheet prepared through a means such as sheeting or printing, baking the green sheet assembly having undergone steps such as lamination, crimping and cutting and then forming external electrodes. The conductive paste is prepared by dispersing a specific type of metal powder into an organic vehicle (organic binder) and an organic solvent.
The various methods through which the metal powder used in the conductive paste is manufactured in the prior art include the gas-phase chemical reaction method, the precipitation reduction method, the reduction deposition method and the thermal reduction method. In any of these manufacturing methods, the metal powder is first washed with water and is then dried. The conductive paste is prepared by dispersing the dried metal powder into the organic vehicle and the organic solvent.
However, dried metal powder tends to aggregate easily, resulting in formation of aggregated metal particles having a particle size larger than the natural particle size of the metal powder. In particular, since increasingly fine metal powder is used nowadays to support the reduction in the film thickness of electrode films, such aggregations in the metal powder tend to occur more frequently.
A conductive paste prepared by dispersing aggregated metal powder into an organic vehicle and an organic solvent, contains large aggregated metal particles. If electrodes of electronic components are formed by using a conductive paste containing aggregated metal particles, the reliability and yield of the electronic components will be greatly compromised. For instance, as shown in FIG. 4, aggregated metal particles 11 may manifest at internal electrodes 1 formed at a ceramic laminated component. If the particle size of the aggregated metal particles 11 becomes larger than the film thickness of the internal electrodes 1, the ceramic 2 is greatly stressed in the area between the internal electrodes 1, resulting in a marked reduction in the reliability and a lower yield of the ceramic laminated component.
Since the aggregated metal particles can only be separated into metal particles having the original particle size through a longer mixing/dispersion step implemented in the conductive paste manufacturing process, poor process efficiency and increased production costs are bound to result.
In addition, while the metal powder is first mixed with the organic vehicle and the organic solvent and then is mixed and dispersed in the conductive paste by utilizing a triple roller in the prior art, the dispersion process implemented by using the triple roller involves various types of potential problems due to the mechanical structure of the triple roller and the process itself requires the worker to be highly experienced and skilled. Thus, it is a very complicated process that requires strict production management. Furthermore, since the dispersion step is a lengthy process, the production costs are bound to rise.